Background: close relationship between GLUT-1 expression and carcinogenesis, tumor development, and the unfavorable prognosis of several malignant tumors.
Objective: To investigate the correlation of GLUT-1 immunostaining and clinic-pathologic features as well as prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.
Materials and methods: Paraffin blocks of 76 cases were retrieved from archives of pathology department, Mansoura University. These included 57 cases with malignant ovarian tumors, 11 cases with benign ovarian tumors, and 8 cases with borderline ovarian tumors. The sectioned samples were stained with polyclonal antibody for GLUT-1. The degree of immunostaining were correlated with clinic-pathologic features as well as prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.
Results: All benign tumors were negative for GLUT-1. Strong staining reaction for GLUT- I was significantly associated with the malignant phenotype (p=0.0001). Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference in staining intensity for GLUT-1 between borderline and malignant tumors (p=0.0028). There was a statistically significant correlation between high grade tumors and strong staining intensity (p=0.001). Correlation between staining reaction for GLUT-1 and developing metastases and/or recurrence was statistically significant (p=0.001).
Conclusion: GLUT-1 is related to carcinogenesis of ovarian carcinomas. The statistically significant correlation between staining intensity for GLUT-1 and malignant phenotype can make it a marker for target therapy for ovarian cancer patients. In addition, GLUT-1 can be considered as predictor for metastases and recurrence in ovarian carcinoma that needs to be validated in future trials.